Political Conflict

OEF Research views political conflict as symptomatic of a breakdown in governance. We take an inclusive view of political conflict by examining many forms, including interstate war, civil war, terrorism, government repression, rebellion, and protest. Similar across all modes of political conflict is that the parties resort to disruptive and sometimes violent tactics as a strategic choice toward some political end. OEF Research explores a myriad of issues about this process, such as how actors end up in conflict (root causes), conflict dynamics, peace negotiations, the international community’s role in preventing or encouraging conflict, the role of non-state actors during and after conflict, and how political institutions can be used to consolidate peace.

Past research on business engagement with human rights, peace, and security has identified specific reasons why national and transnational companies may be interested in participating, as well as how they have contributed to protecting human rights

This white paper offers a synthetic review of empirical evidence on the elements of state governance that affect interstate and intrastate armed conflict. In the first part of the paper we examine state capacity and institutional quality.

How does the way in which a group organizes change the lethality of the group's attacks? In this article, we argue that groups organized vertically as hierarchies are likely to conduct more lethal attacks.

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OEF Research views political conflict as symptomatic of a breakdown in governance. We take an inclusive view of political conflict by examining many forms, including interstate war, civil war, terrorism, government repression, rebellion, and protest. Similar across all modes of political conflict is that the parties resort to disruptive and sometimes violent tactics as a strategic choice toward some political end. OEF Research explores a myriad of issues about this process, such as how actors end up in conflict (root causes), conflict dynamics, peace negotiations, the international community’s role in preventing or encouraging conflict, the role of non-state actors during and after conflict, and how political institutions can be used to consolidate peace.